Baseball player killed in Oklahoma

[SMOKE 1,426]

update:

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/20/20102447-2-teens-charged-with-first-degree-murder-in-ballplayers-killing-in-oklahoma?lite

[GandD 5,966]

Happens all the time. It's one of the results of the gun worship that's going on in this country.

And cause of no doubt.

[GandD 5,966]

Since you consider him a source worth quoting:

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these.

- George Washington Carver

[Crashed~N2~Me 970]

I wonder when we can expect a "license to conceive" requirement. Surely, Bloomberg or some1 else has that on their to do list...

[GandD 5,966]

I wonder when we can expect a "license to conceive" requirement. Surely, Bloomberg or some1 else has that on their to do list...

Conceiving doesn't kill anyone.

[Crashed~N2~Me 970]

No1 to blame but the gun...got it.

Does any1 know when the 1st Gun was invented and used?....Humans never killed any1 before that...nope...never a murder not even 1....wait...I think I read something about some dude named Cain...but that was just fiction so doesn't really count. hmmmmmm.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

They've identified the three guys now. I predict this thread takes a turn for the worst:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/three-teens-accused-of-murder-of-baseball-player-chris-lane-identified/story-fni0fiyv-1226700172461

Ok so they were not crazy, just thugs...Thanks

[GandD 5,966]

No1 to blame but the gun...got it.

Does any1 know when the 1st Gun was invented and used?....Humans never killed any1 before that...nope...never a murder not even 1....wait...I think I read something about some dude named Cain...but that was just fiction so doesn't really count. hmmmmmm.

I dunno man, walk up to someone, point your finger at them and say BAM. See if they die.

[Crashed~N2~Me 970]

( a quick search = ) In 2010, 10,228 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes & 11,078 firearm-related homicide deaths.

I have a better Idea...I will hand some1 a bottle of Scotch & the keys to....not my car...some1 else's car....That way - he /she can take out themselves and maybe a few others too. (if) I'm going down...I'm going Postal.

So which do we ban...the car or the booze...? Maybe both?

Imagine driving down a highway & looking out your side window - you notice A) Hunter with loaded rack or B) Driver downing a fifth.... which does 1 choose to be next to at that particular moment...?

Edited August 20, 2013 by Crashed~N2~Me

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

No1 to blame but the gun...got it.

Does any1 know when the 1st Gun was invented and used?....Humans never killed any1 before that...nope...never a murder not even 1....wait...I think I read something about some dude named Cain...but that was just fiction so doesn't really count. hmmmmmm.

If guns don't kill people, then why do we give guns to the people we send to war? Why not just send the people?

[Crashed~N2~Me 970]

If guns don't kill people, then why do we give guns to the people we send to war? Why not just send the people?

In Modern Times - People use Guns to kill people. I'm not a military expert but I suppose it's more efficient & effective than all the other ways People kill people except WMDs.

I bet primitive man used to kill each other with their bare hands before they figured how to crush with a rock or shape a spear. I also bet primitive man figured out how to use a rock to kill some1 even the very 1st conflict...Now why does that name Cain come to mind again.....I'm sure even the Sumerians have a few stories about murder.

History recounts many other ways people kill people in war - (1 example) including rocks. Is it the rock or the people doing the killing?

There is a methodic dumbing down going on in America. I wonder when the word "accountable" will be scratched from the dictionary.

Edited August 20, 2013 by Crashed~N2~Me

[Karee 4,189]

You must not come here often. Most of the time when the shooters are black, it's like a Klan rally up in here, the difference is they can't say what they really want to so it's a mixture of code words and dog whistles.

And honestly, Al and Jesse only get involved when nothing is done. It's getting tired using them as the scapegoat when there is real racism and bias within the legal system.

That must have been someone else logging in with your credentials where you spent 100s if not 1000s of posts claiming the GZ/TM thing was definitely race related. Was that a klan rally?

I think I understand it now. It's only about race when it's a black person killed by a white person. It can't possibly be about race when it's a white person killed by black people.

I wonder if there will be 100s of threads about this case in this forum. Somehow I doubt it. And no, Al and Jesse only get involved when it's a BLACK person killed by a white person.

Edited August 20, 2013 by Karee

[lostinblue 1,989]

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

That must have been someone else logging in with your credentials where you spent 100s if not 1000s of posts claiming the GZ/TM thing was definitely race related. Was that a klan rally?

I think I understand it now. It's only about race when it's a black person killed by a white person. It can't possibly be about race when it's a white person killed by black people.

I wonder if there will be 100s of threads about this case in this forum. Somehow I doubt it. And no, Al and Jesse only get involved when it's a BLACK person killed by a white person.

you nailed it..If three white youths had executed a black kid out of boredom, the usual suspects would be crying bloody murder about this heinous racist inspired hate crime.

[Karee 4,189]

Two teens charged with murdering Melbourne baseball player Chris Lane

James Edwards one of two boys charged with first-degree murder.

AN Oklahoma court has been told how one of the boys accused of murdering Melbourne baseballer Chris Lane danced as he was being booked into jail.

James Edwards, 15, was treating the murder as a joke, District Attorney Jason Hicks told an emotional hearing in Duncan, Oklahoma on Tuesday (Wednesday morning AEST).

"I believe he is a threat to the community," Mr Hicks said of Edwards.

"He thinks this was a joke."

Chancey Luna was also charged with first-degree murder.

Edwards and Chancey Luna, 16, were charged with first degree murder and face life in prison if convicted.

They were refused bail.

Michael Jones, 17, was charged with using a vehicle to facilitate the discharge of a weapon and accessory after the fact of murder in the first degree.

Michael Jones, 17, was charged as an accessory to the killing.

Bail for Jones, who is assisting prosecutors and police, was set at $US1 million ($A1.1 million).

The three will be tried as adults.

They were dressed in orange prison jumpsuits and had their legs shackled during the brief appearance in Stephens County Courthouse.

Edwards and Luna did not show any emotion, but Jones broke down in tears after Mr Hicks said he was looking at a "very, very lengthy prison sentence".

"I didn't pull the trigger," Jones said.

It is Luna who prosecutors believe fired the one shot into the back of Lane, 22, who was jogging along a road in Duncan on Friday.

"The information we have was this was the person who pulled the trigger," the prosecutor said.

It comes a day after Duncan Police Chief Danny Ford said he had secured the confession of one of the boys who summoned investigators to his jail cell and claimed the boys were bored "so they decided to kill somebody".

"They saw Christopher jog by the house they were at, they chose him to be the target, they got in the car, drove up behind him and shot him in the back," Chief Ford said.

Lane was staying with his American girlfriend Sarah Harper in Duncan before going back to Oklahoma's East Central University where he majored in finance and was the catcher on the team's baseball team.

The court was told that the three boys spotted Mr Lane jogging, got into a car driven by Jones, drove behind Mr Lane and then Luna shot him in the back.

But the teens' parents yesterday protested their innocence.

Jennifer Luna claimed her son was at home saying: "My son is not that way. My son is a good kid."

Chris Lane wears his baseball equipment in Australia. Picture: Essendon Baseball Club

Yesterday, former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer has urged Australian tourists to boycott the US in the wake of the shooting murder of the Melbourne baseball star.

Mr Fischer said he was deeply angered by the latest tragedy and said turning our backs on America would help send a stern message about the need for tighter gun control.

Mr Fischer, who led Australia's gun control reforms alongside former prime minister John Howard in 1996, said choosing not to travel to the US would help build pressure on the US Congress to finally act.

"Tourists thinking of going to the USA should think twice,'' Mr Fischer said.

"This is the bitter harvest and legacy of the policies of the NRA that even blocked background checks for people buying guns at gunshows.

"People should take this into account before going to the United States.

"I am deeply angry about this because of the callous attitude of the three teenagers (but) it's a sign of the proliferation of guns on the ground in the USA.

"There is a gun for almost every American.''

Ms Harper, 23, yesterday revealed her heartbreak at losing her "best friend", and parents of the accused protested their innocence.

Chris Lane was gunned down in Duncan, Oklahoma.

She also told the Herald Sun that she didn't know what punishment would be appropriate of the three teenagers, aged 15, 16 and 17 years, accused of Lane's murder.

A spokesperson for District Attorney Jason Hicks said the charges were still being reviewed.

Lane, who grew up in Oak Park in Melbourne's north, had only been back in the US for three days after an eight-week break in Australia with Ms Harper.

"I don't want them to have any future that Chris wasn't able to have as well," Ms Harper said of the accused teenagers today.

"It's been pretty rough. It's been hard knowing he was taken so close to home, let alone taken in the way he was. To be pointed out like that …"

Ms Harper said she and Lane had joked about America's soft gun laws before he was shot.

"He wasn't a fan of guns," she said.

She fondly described Lane as a smart, kind and curious guy who would "do anything for anybody".

Ms Harper, also a talented sportswoman, said she and Lane just "meshed together" within weeks of meeting at college in Oklahoma in August 2009.

"It was more of a personality (we had in common), not so much interests. He was intellectual, into world news, and I found that quite boring," she said.

"He really wanted to travel more. He loved the idea of seeing the world."

Two of the accused teens' parents insist they were not involved in the killing.

"That's my baby boy," said the mother of the 16-year-old accused of firing the single bullet from a handgun into the back of Mr Lane.

She doesn't believe her son was involved in the shooting, saying today he was not a member of a gang and definitely not the one who pulled the trigger.

The father of the 15-year-old accused of being in the car admitted his son had been in some previous "kid stuff" trouble with the law, but described him as a good boy who also was not part of a gang.

"I don't think so," the father replied when asked if his son could have been part of the murder.

"Because he's not the type of person. He likes to wrestle. He's into sports."

The two teens have suffered tragic lives, their parents said. The 15-year-old's mother is in jail. The 16-year-old last year dealt with the death of his stepfather and brother.

The parents of the teens sent their condolences to Lane's family in Australia and Ms Harper.

"My prayers go out to them," the father said.

"I have lost several loved ones recently myself. I feel sorry for the individuals and family."

Ms Harper yesterday said the accused "will be taken care of eventually".

Ms Harper said she wasn't thinking about the killers at the moment.

"I don't really care what happens to them,'' she told the Nine Network.

"I feel that if they don't get what they deserve now in the present they will eternally.

"They're evil people and they'll be taken care of eventually.''

It comes amid claims Lane was the victim of a gang-related drive-by shooting gone wrong.

Outside the court a woman told reporters the three accused teens had a falling out with a fellow gang member.

She told Channel Nine the teens were angry when they set out and wanted her brother dead.

"I guess he has hung out with gang-affiliated people. I don't know if he's really claimed it or tried to be like them so that might be a reason why they're after him," she said.

However Chief Ford said the accused "just wanted to kill someone".

Chief Ford said the three teens had no motive other than to ''make a name for themselves'' and were on their way to another house to murder a second, unrelated victim when they were arrested.

Lane's death a tragedy with no rhyme or reason

Christopher Lane’s mother and sister.

Lane had been in the US on a baseball sports scholarship with East Central University (ECU) as the team's catcher.

He was jogging through an area of "high dollar homes" after leaving Ms Harper's home, when he was followed and shot.

Witnesses saw him stumble across the road and then go down on his knees before struggling to a drainage area at the side of the road.

'I love you so much': girlfriend's moving tribute to baseball star

A woman who came from a nearby house tried CPR while another woman who was in a car stopped and called 911.

Australian's drive-by death 'senseless'

The father of baseballer Chris Lane says the murder of his son in a random drive-by shooting is senseless.

Sky News19 August 2013

Ms Lane said she would come back to Australia to farewell Lane with his family.

"I'm probably going to go back and say goodbye with the people he loved the most," she said.

"It was a great time getting back there and seeing him in his element with all his favourite friends.

"It's going to be hard going back but it's something I need to do.

"Thank you to everyone who supported and loved Chris. I really appreciated it."

A tribute left on the home plate at Essendon Bombers Baseball field for murdered Melbourne baseballer Christopher Lane.

Chief Ford said yesterday the attack was not racially motivated.

"It was just three clowns who got together and decided to kill,'' he said.

Chief Ford said the police had released the body but was unsure of plans to repatriate Lane's body back to Melbourne.

He also said the killer left a chilling message on Facebook before the spree - "Bang. Two drops in two hours".

"They wanted to be Billy Bob Badasses," Chief Ford said yesterday.

"I think they were on a killing spree.

"We would have had more bodies that night if we didn't get them.

Christopher Lane with girlfriend, Sarah Harper. Supplied: Facebook

"Lately there has been some pretty weak motives, but I don't know that I've had one that they told us they were just going to kill somebody.

"I know everybody thinks there has to be a reason, but I've been in this business for 30 years and there doesn't have to be a reason with these kids.

"It is a sad, sad thing what happened with that young man."

Yesterday, shocked family and friends were trying to make sense of the tragedy.

Peter Lane paid tribute to his son and said the family was still waiting on news from the US authorities regarding the repatriation of the body.

Christopher Lane’s devastated family.

"There is not going to be any good come out of this. It was so senseless. There was nothing he did or could have done," Mr Lane said.

"It's happened. It's wrong and we just try and deal with it the best we can."

Flowers and a baseball were placed on the home plate at Essendon Baseball Club yesterday morning with a message. "A wonderful young man taken too soon," it read. "Why?"

College friend Marshall Veal added Lane had "brought light to each of us''.

"Lanes would have done anything in the world for all of us and we would do the same, he was a best friend, teammate, and most of all a Brother. We love you Laney."

Local Bill Renfrow, who lives just metres from the intersection where Lane was shot, said Duncan locals had erected a flower memorial for him at the site of the attack.

"It's sad to us, more than anything. It's shocking. He was a visitor in our country," he said.

"This is a very quiet neighbourhood, there's never any trouble here."

Essendon Baseball Club's match against the University of Melbourne on Sunday will be turned into a tribute to Lane to raise money for the family.

- with Stephen Drill Andy Burns and AAP

Read more: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/national-news/victoria/two-teens-charged-with-murdering-melbourne-baseball-player-chris-lane/story-fnii5sms-1226700172461#ixzz2cYaYlvWj

Source:

http://www.news.com.au/national-news/victoria/two-teens-charged-with-murdering-melbourne-baseball-player-chris-lane/story-fnii5sms-1226700172461

Edited August 20, 2013 by Karee